Hi I hope someone can help me.

I’m starting a Texas Hold’em Game with friends there will be ten of us playing and we are not playing for cash but the buy in is one large bar of chocolate.

I’ve bought a 500 chip set and there are

150 Marked 1
100 Marked 5
100 Marked 10
50 Marked 25
50 Marked 100
25 Marked 500
25 Marked 1000

So I’ve know idea how to split them up. We want to play antes rather than blinds.
If there is anybody who could help me I’d be grateful.
Thanks.

Are you planning on playing a tournament? How long do you have to play on a given day?

Hi we have about 4 hours to play just ten of us playing down to the last 2 who will then split the chocolate.

Sorry if I put this question in the wrong place. As you can probably tell I’m new to this.
Thank you.

Hope it is going to be at least a Lindt or something like it LOL!! This has got to be the ultimate low stakes home game! Enjoy!

Lol yes it will be high end chocolate lol.
I just really need someone to help be understand how to split the chips up as I’m really stuck on that and what the ante should be.
If anyone can help I’d be grateful.

Is there some reason you don't want to use blinds? Whatever you do, you are going to have to increase the size of the antes or blinds as time goes by. Otherwise you probably won't get winners in 4 hours.

As for dividing up the chips - make it simple, divide the total by 10 and give everyone an equal stack. To make it really easy, give everyone 1/10 of each chip amount, except for the 500s and 1000s (since there are only 25 of each). Give everyone 2 of each of those and just leave the remainder in the case. Or give an extra chip for the bringer of the best chocolate.

Your title says "limit" - is that correct? If so, you can define the ante in terms of the lowest $1 chips, make the limits $5 and $10, then increase the limits every 15 minutes. You'll probably have more fun with no limit - especially since it doesn't seem like anyone will really lose anything (I'm hoping everyone will at least get to eat some chocolate).

Thank you so much VBAces for your help. I know it was probably an easy answer I just didn’t know how the splitting up of the chips worked as I didn’t want the game to last forever lol.
The only reason I said limit is I don’t want people knocked out really quickly. I want everyone to have a bit of a game before they start to be knocked out.

Do you think blinds would work better.

I've never played a tournament that didn't have blinds, so I can't say for sure. But having blinds is pretty standard, and has become an integral part of holdem. At the beginning the blinds are low, and it isn't common for people to get all-in unless there are a couple of monster hands. As the blinds increase (meaning toward the end of the night) things happen a lot quicker and you can get the tournament over.

Thank you. So. Much VBAces you’ve been really helpful.

You are welcome. All I ask in return is a big bar of chocolate

I think blinds are the way to go, as you are playing Holdem. There are ways to account for how long the game lasts. The amount of starting chips, the blind/ante amounts and how often they increase are all big factors in the length of a game.

If you divide up the smallest denomination chips 10 ways:
15 x 1 = 15
10 x 5 = 50
10 x 10 = 100
5 x 25 = 125

Starting stack of 290, a little weird, but starting with blinds of 1-2 and playing limit that should give people plenty of chips. Want to add a 100 chip (or more) to each stack, go ahead, but you'll have to increase the blinds, or decrease the length of each round to shorten the overall game.

Have a plan for raising the blinds/antes and how often you will raise them. Try searching this forum, or google for ideas. I think a lot of people use Blind Valet, but that may be geared towards no-limit.